Is Missions Supposed To Be That Hard?
CCWM Missionary Mike Oudyn -Bolivia 2025
“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and to allow him to suffer. ”
Less than a week ago, the team stood in the early morning hours before first light together in the driveway with luggage loaded into the SUV, we circled up to pray.
When I said “amen,” they would leave me there, driving off to catch the first of many flights to reach their destination, the Amazon tributaries where God was calling them to go.
I prayed for favor, protection, health, and, of course, for the will of God, as if it were a dinner mint served expectantly with the check.
I’ve been pondering the dinner mint, the will of God.
I prayed it because I wanted it, or knew I should want it, or perhaps, at the very least, I knew I should accept it.
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.”
But inwardly, even as I prayed it, I wondered if I would be okay with it. I’ve been engaged long enough in missions and ministry to know that the will of God is not always what I think it should be or what I think I need it to be.
Sometimes, the will of God is….hard.
Once, I heard a woman responding to a young missionary who had shared her story of experiencing one roadblock after another in ministry. She asked,
Now this is a good question, I thought, and waited for the missionary’s response. After a few moments, she replied,
“I’m sorry for not having a faster response, it’s just that I’m surprised anyone would think missions would be easy.”
Roadblock- Bolivia 2025
What about roadblocks? Are they indicators to turn back— or to pray without ceasing?
Our team left Chicago on June 19th with a travel itinerary only for the determined to attempt. Four flights and many layovers after they landed in Trinidad, Bolivia, only to learn that the Bolivian side of their team had been facing hardships. The Bolivian team was stuck in the mud, all day and all night, waiting to pass through to get to them. The bus they traveled on carried doctors, nurses, dentists, medical supplies, and translators. Moms, dads, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, sons, and daughters all sacrificing their time and money to come and serve the difficult-to-reach villages along the Mamoré River and its tributaries.
I know many members of that team, and can tell you they too prayed, gathered up in a circle and asked God for his favor, protection, health, and…for the dinner mint.
Yet here they were stuck in the mud.
There were more frustrations, delays, and setbacks in the days that followed. Yet spirits were high, hopes were set on God, and the team persevered in reaching those villages.
They did not see the roadblocks as a sign to turn back.
“We were just informed that there will be no way to get by; they will not open the road. We are asking the Lord for a miracle, and if he grants us a miracle, Praise Him, and if not, we Praise Him.”
The road crossing under water Bolivia 2025
This was the road they needed to pass through to get to the barge that would take them to the other side. All of the team on the bus this time, American and Bolivian, stuck together for many hours and into the night.
I wondered, what if Moses considered the Red Sea his sign to surrender to Pharaoh and his armies? How did he discern whether to keep going or turn back? Indeed, if he had listened to the voice of the masses, he would have considered it wiser to stop now…. It was an obvious decision, wasn’t it?
I wonder if I could have supported Moses in that moment or if I would have given him counsel to see the signs, know when to stay, NO, Moses.
In my missionary journey, it was not uncommon to hear the following from some of the more faithful followers of Christ I know.
Great question, friend. I don’t know how to tell you that I wouldn’t put myself through anything … except that I believe it is God’s will for me to persevere through discomfort, difficulty, and even suffering to live and speak the Gospel where He is asking me to go.
The question hurts, but it’s a good one. Only God knows a man's heart. Motives can be challenging to determine, even within ourselves.
I’m thankful that God can do this, and we can ask Him to purify our motives. I know only God can save, and I am willing to die to share this good news with others.
This one often caught me off guard because I am a hard worker, and I love my work, especially when I'm working with God. But I’m not working for His love on the mission field, I’m working with God because I love Him.
Thankfully, we have letters left to us from former missionaries, Peter and Paul. These letters are a lifeline in such situations.
1 Peter 4: 12-19
2 Corinthians 11:16-27
The sandbar
A message from Kristy Bebar - CCWM STM Coordinator & Missionary
Was this the final roadblock? Will it keep them from the mission?
Maybe a better question would be, what is God’s will for this mission?
Was the mud his will? The water covering the road? The hole in the boat?
A great deal of preparation went into this mission.
Many senders contributed to making a costly mission possible.
Prayer covers this mission and the participants.
Yet here they sit on a sandbar, deterred from their mission plan.
Another day lost to the roadblocks.
Or is it?
A message from Sarah Pilkington - CCWM Creative Team Lead & Short Term Missionary
The boat, leak fixed, did dislodge from the sandbar, and the team carried on.
Through discomfort, disappointment, danger, and all manner of resistance…down the river they head, not because they enjoy suffering, or feel a need to suffer, or are trying to be good enough in the eyes of God, or to save anyone. They go because He called them there, and yes, sometimes missions is that hard.
Some of the team returning to the big boat after a visit to one of the villages
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 1 Peter 2:15
